Sunil Sharma Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison

Carlsbad’s Sunil Sharma was sentenced Sept. 14 to 33 months in prison for running a Ponzi scheme, the SanDiegoReader.com reported. He had raised $8.36 million from 32 companies through his companies, Gold Coast Holding and Safe Harbor Tax Lien Acquisitions.

He told the investors he would put their money in diversified portfolios, managed by Wall Street’s Goldman Sachs, that would invest in bonds of emerging markets Brazil, Russia, India and China.

However, he was using investors’ money to day-trade stock options — a risky business. When his returns shrank, he began pulling a Ponzi, paying off early investors with funds from later ones.

He put $700,000 of investor funds into a $2 million home and also diverted some to a Mediterranean cruise and leases on a Mercedes and a BMW, said reports.